Hot dog... la película

First rate T&A flick. Bizarre party scenes, seemingly endless amounts of nudity and a guitar serenade so mind-numbingly awful, it leaves you screaming for more! Shannon Tweed looks superb in this, as do all the other featured babes. See how many times you rewind the scene in which our ski hero, commenting on his smarmy German idol, mutters "He's the BEST!" Horrible, yet curiously endearing. You be the judge. 9/10 on the mondo movie scale.

I liked the movie from the 80s on. It's true that many of the activities portrayed are not appropriate today. Of course a lot of people hate this movie, but they generally hate this genre of movie, anyway, right?! I was especially moved by the sex scene with Harkin (Patrick Houser) and Sunny (Tracy N. Smith), the guitar serenade (written by folkie John Stewart), the hot tub scene with Shannon Tweed, and the gondola scene. It's very rare for such sex scenes to move me in other like movies of that period: I think that director Peter Markle handled the sex scenes very tastefully.... The skiing scenes were also really well done, also, but one often may see that the stunt skiers are different from the actors (duh!).

It's true, also, that some of the plot contains dumb male humor. However: I remember the names of the actors that I liked in the key romantic and sex scenes, and some others, so the movie did move me....

The plot couldn't possibly be more basic or paint-by-numbers, but overall it's an enjoyable romp through a prototypical 80's flick.

I saw this one in a Fairfield, Ct theater with a bunch of fellow tanked-up theater circuit employees, and we loved it! Sure it's stupid! Who cares? My cardinal rule with comedy is that it doesn't have to be highbrow to be funny; if a comedy makes you laugh, it has succeeded.

The predictable "snobs vs slobs" comedy is given the novel twist of having the slobs actually be highly proficient at their field of expertise, in this case "hot dog" skiing. While the comedy is pretty standard, the scenes on the slopes are standouts, particularly the spectacular Chinese Downhill race. And let us not forget that living proof of the existence of the Goddess, Shannon Tweed. The only thing that she's missing is the giant seashell that she looks like she stepped out of!!!

As for the heroes of the film, if you've ever gone seriously skiing, you know these guys. The raging alcoholic, the stoner, the foreign expert, the annoying new-kid-on-the-slopes/phenom, the thermonuclear ski goddess... They're all here. And don't miss the scene that features Mitch ryder's rockin' cover of Prince's "When You Were Mine." Kick back some tallboys and check it out!

Aside from all the blatant content to attract attention (that can be skipped and doesn't really affect the main story), there's actually a lot of charm and personality to this movie.. and the stunt work was also quite impressive and well done! It does have a straightforward structure, but the plot is simple, interesting and appealing enough. Doesn't look cheap and I very much enjoyed the competition aspect.

This is the kind of movie that doesn't give you a lot of each character (not to get bored of them), but everyone introduced has the little moments it shows are well written and define each. The finale was very climatic!! And just ends in the right note.

PS. More Kendo!